Job growth rate tops state
Diversification and economic restructuring have helped transform Central Oregon’s economy from a historic reliance on forest products and agriculture into a diversified mixture of high technology and specialty manufacturing industries. Add the $498 million tourist industry and you have the basis for continued economic strength.Deschutes County added 15,490 jobs between 2001 and 2006, eclipsing all areas of the state with an annual growth rate of 5.4%. The job growth rate in the past three years rose to 7%, representing over 4,000 new jobs a year. Central Oregon is projected to have the fastest growth rate in the state through 2014, according to the Oregon Employment Department.
Private sector jobs in the three Central Oregon counties generate an annual payroll of $2.7 billion. Trade, transportation and utilities—a category that includes wholesale and retail trade—leads with $497.5 million in payroll dollars annually, followed by government at $427.2 million.
Bend is No. 11 in yearly personal income growth among the nation’s 363 metropolitan areas. Next Oregon city on the US Commerce Dept. list is Portland, No. 42. Personal income in Bend grew by 10.2% between 2005 and 2006. Per capita income in Bend increased 4.4%.
Bend area residents derived 21% of their personal income from non-payroll sources such as dividends, interest and rent in 2006, up 6.6% from 2005. The statewide average is 18.2%.
Median household income in Deschutes County was $58,800 in 2006, about on par with Oregon as a whole.
Bend has become an incubator for small business formation and entrepreneurship. The Small Business Administration lists Bend as No. 7 on a list of the most entrepreneurial local markets. Eight of the top 10 are in small to medium-sized cities, mostly in mountain regions of the West.
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